{"id":1513,"date":"2016-11-28T09:48:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T08:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=62433"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:07","slug":"im-going-rampage-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/11\/28\/im-going-rampage-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I’m going rampage soon!’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Noisy behaviour, stolen bicycles, drunkenness and urinating in public: students have their own kind of criminal behaviour. EM went along with the police in Rotterdam for a night to see what actually goes on. \u201cOf course it\u2019s a good thing that not a lot happened, but we do enjoy a bit of action now and again.\u201d<\/p>\n

22.30. Officers are given a briefing.<\/p>\n

Each time before they\u00a0go on duty to update\u00a0them on current cases,\u00a0missing persons and other
\nimportant matters.<\/p>\n

\u201dThere\u2019s a party in student disco Bikini tonight with 300 students from Utrecht, so we can expect some excitement.\u201d We make a tour of the city with an officer and a sergeant \u2013 let\u2019s call them Charlotte and Freek \u2013 last Thursday night to get an idea of students from the police point of view.<\/p>\n

23.00. complaint about\u00a0noise made by students at a party.
\nThe police get a lot of complaints about noise\u00a0and other types of\u00a0nuisance because Bikini is
\nright in the middle of a residential area. And they\u00a0always go along to see\u00a0what\u2019s happening after each report. But everyone is behaving themselves\u00a0very nicely tonight. \u201cSome\u00a0residents have had enough\u00a0and they complain about\u00a0the least little thing. But\u00a0it\u2019d be better if they made
\na formal complaint to the\u00a0municipality instead of\u00a0ringing us. The\u00a0municipality\u2019s the one that
\ngives students permission\u00a0to have a party.\u201d<\/p>\n

As we drive through Kralingen, we are told that the students have obviously spent most of their grants. This is because it\u2019s remarkably quiet for a Thursday night in Rotterdam\u2019s biggest student district. \u201cBut it\u2019s different at the end of the month when their money arrives,\u201d says Charlotte. \u201cThey come out of the pubs and they\u2019re so drunk they just lie about on the ground or urinate against the houses. And of course people complain.\u201d If the police tackle students about their behaviour, they respond a bit differently to the average citizen. \u201cThey\u2019re studying law, or their mother\u2019s a lawyer,\u201d Charlotte explains. \u201cAnd they always point out their rights and claim we can\u2019t take them to the station. We just laugh about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red light<\/h3>

At about 02:30, a young lad suddenly appears next to the police car. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to help me,\u201d he articulates with difficulty. \u201cThey\u2019ve\u2026.. they\u2019ve \u2026 knocked me about\u2026.\u201d. He is too drunk to look at Freek but he tries once again to explain. \u201cI\u2019m going rampage soon,\u201d he goes on. \u201cAll right, just tell us what happened,\u201d Freek says soothingly. \u201cLike I said, I\u2019m going to go berserk, this is too much.\u201d But a member of the Rotterdamsch Studenten Corps soon appears on the scene. \u201cThis lad will take over, he\u2019ll help you,\u201d Freek tells the inebriated student reassuringly.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t`I\u2019m going rampage soon\u00b4\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

02.30. An inebriated student appears at the\u00a0car window.<\/p>\n

A student who\u2019s completely legless suddenly appears at the car window while Freek and\u00a0Charlotte are keeping the departing guests\u00a0under observation. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious there\u2019s\u00a0nothing wrong with him \u00a0apart from being\u00a0drunk,\u201d says Freek. So he has no qualms about \u00a0handing the lad over to the student\u00a0committee members who are already coming\u00a0over to help him.<\/p>\n

At the end of the night, another two lads drive past unsteadily on a scooter. Charlotte expertly manoeuvres the police car on to the cycle track, goes after them and breathalyses them. The result is that the driver \u2013 a student \u2013 has to go along to the station. He gets into the car resignedly and says: \u201cYes, I\u2019ve had too much to drink, but I can still drive. I wouldn\u2019t have done it if I thought I couldn\u2019t.\u201d \u201cBut you went through a red light and didn\u2019t even realise,\u201d Charlotte points out. \u201cDoesn\u2019t that show you\u2019re not in a fit state to drive?\u201d The student decides not to reply and sits staring glumly at his phone.<\/p>\n

04.10. Careless driving.<\/p>\n

A car weaving about on the road and making a\u00a0U-turn at a spot where this isn\u2019t allowed prompts
\nFreek to check the registration number, while\u00a0Charlotte has a chat with the driver. He\u2019s tired out,
\nwhich is why he\u2019s driving so carelessly. And the car isn\u2019t insured or had its MOT either, so the driver has\u00a0to leave the car there. \u201cAnd we\u2019re overlooking the\u00a0fact that he made a U-turn and didn\u2019t even signal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018My parents won\u2019t be very pleased with me\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

04.30. Drunken driving on a scooter.<\/p>\n

Two lads weaving about on a scooter near the\u00a0police car. They go through a red light on the
\nErasmusbrug and are breathalysed by the\u00a0police. The test shows that the alcohol level\u00a0in the driver\u2019s blood is way over the limit. So\u00a0he has to go along to the station for a further\u00a0test.<\/p>\n

04.40. Back at the station.
\nOn arrival at the station, the police inform\u00a0the scooter driver of his rights, and ask him to empty his pockets and stand with his\u00a0hands against the wall so that Freek can\u00a0frisk him.<\/p>\n

04.45. Second breath test at the station.<\/p>\n

The lad, who is a student, has to do a second\u00a0breath test. He is resigned and does as Freek\u00a0and Charlotte ask him. \u201cWell, that\u2019s the law, isn\u2019t\u00a0it,\u201d he sighs. \u201cBut my parents will be so\u00a0disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bit of action<\/h3>

And how do things go in Bikini? As it turns out, the situation there is perfectly respectable at 05.00. Freek tells us that if people living nearby do have trouble with students, this is usually caused by too much noise and public drunkenness: \u201cAnd the fact that students are drunk means they get robbed or their pockets picked more often,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey weave about all over the pavement with their phones in their hands. Easy enough for thieves to snatch the phone and run off with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

05.30. Time for Freek and Charlotte to go off duty and go home.<\/p>\n

It was rather a boring night for them. \u201cOf course it\u2019s a good thing that not a lot happened. That means we\u2019re doing our work properly,\u201d says Charlotte. \u201cBut we do enjoy a bit of action now and again. After all, that\u2019s why we chose this job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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